[ text ] No more carols to sing

[radiopalkiller]

I. ACTION

[ Well, this is Wonderland. This, specifically, is Wonderland's beach, and, more specifically its ocean, which reaches up to Philip's knees. So much for a smooth landing, huh? He lets the icy water lap at his feet for a bit, because it makes a nice change from-- uh, hours? Days? Weeks? It makes a nice change from burning in hell, period.

He wades onto semi-dry land, eventually. So this was... what? An event? Another magical accident from the corner of unsupervised Storybrooke maniacs? Or, third. Christ, third. Neither the water nor the offensively picturesque snow landscape run down his back as coldly as that thought. That he might've actually gone home.

He lets that sink in, and sink down, until it doesn't paralyse him anymore. Then he takes out his phone, and heads back into the mansion. ]

[[ PRIVATE TEXT, TO EVELYN O'CONNELL ]] Hey, can you spare a second? Because I'm a bit weirded out, and not entirely sure what just happened to me. [ He waits. Gets impatient. Types the second part right away: ] Was I gone?

II. TEXT

[ First, he wants to pretend that the last few- days? did not just happen. Second, he picked up the words "sleep deprivation" and "other Wonderland", and still doesn't get the whole picture from the network. Which, all in all, leads to third, a controlled mess in the kitchen, and the following message: ]

Apparently I just blinked and missed Christmas, so I'm stooping to bakery to make up for it.

[ A helpful visual of some crunchy chocolate toffee squares with macadamia nuts comes attached. ]

First three batches ready for pick-up in the kitchen. Fourth batch in the works, I'll trade you for some good stories about the event I missed.

Comments

Text;

[lightgunhustler]

Bribery with baked goods is always pretty effective.
You're better off for having missed it this year, I think, but I'm glad you're back.

Text;

[radiopalkiller]

You say that, but when did we ever have the opposite with an event? "Gosh, Philip, we had such a blast! The zombies were especially rotten this time around, can't believe you weren't there to get in a few good headshots!"

On that note, I could probably whip up something special for the bar. Rum balls? Rum sugar biscuits? Rum-Soaked Chocolate Chip Cookies? Rum comma several bottles of?

Text;

[lightgunhustler]

I don't know, some of them have been kind of fun.
I never minded the musical ones. Hogwarts wasn't so bad, either, although that one is a matter of opinion.
For the record, I would pick you for my zombie-killing team any day of the week.

How about E, all of the above? Too much?

[text forever]

[goodwoofjames]

Are you sure you really want to know? You got to skip it. Maybe it's for the best.

[radiopalkiller]

[ Jesus, what is he, fresh meat? ]

Right, I've been through about six years worth of them, but I'm sure that's gonna be the one that does me in. Just spill it.

[goodwoofjames]

I just figured you might as well enjoy ignoring it. But if you insist.

[It takes a bit longer for the next message to come, but it does. Sirius isn't all that great at typing.]

Whenever we fell asleep, we "dreamed" of a Wonderland run by the White Queen. Nobody in it seemed to remember anything before they came to Wonderland. Most people were more boring than usual. Everything was white. People think it was the future. Not sure I agree.

[nascensibility]

[Evelyn didn't want to fuss when typical disappearances are brief, but it always makes her exceptionally anxious when old friends drop off the map for however short a time. Her relief should be palpable.]

You disappeared over Christmas, I believe.

Not for too long.

Are you all right?

[radiopalkiller]

OVER Christmas? As in 'it is currently AFTER' Christmas? Jesus Christ, that's at least three weeks. What day is it?

[ ...Should he be glad or offended that her definition of not for too long is getting rather generous? ]

[nascensibility]

[Too long, in its current definition, is whatever borders on a month. It isn't that she's become more optimistic about chances when they stretch beyond two weeks, but Evelyn has grown tired of wallowing held onto a fragment of hope that Philip's disappearance - even with the death in his own world - would not be permanent.

Call her selfish.]

December 27th. What is the last thing that you remember?

text;

[nonscriptum]

unless weird dreams are up your alley i don't think you missed much

[According to sources, the Nate that appeared in the dreams of other people is gratuitously different from the Nate he is at present...or in general. Everybody else was pretty out of sorts, too, and keeping the space between asleep and awake straight is still hard even when the effects of the event have passed.]

i'll take you up on baked goods though

text;

[radiopalkiller]

Depends. What brand of weird are we talking about?

PS.: No home deliveries. I'm waiting in the kitchen.

text; 1/2

[nonscriptum]

weird like the dream is waking up in another version of wonderland where no one remembers where they came from and everyone remembers just being here

but i'm paraphrasing, a little

be there in a sex

text;

[nonscriptum]

..............sec

i don't know you THAT well

text

[postictal]

you got to miss all the dreams of a future where we're all stuck in a literal winter wonderland?


yeah you're the lucky one.

text

[radiopalkiller]

[ --But really, how snide is he going to be about the whole "literally burning alive for ages" thing? Not very, probably, because that'd involve actually talking about it. Yuck. ]

You mean as opposed to now, when it's beach weather and we can come and go anytime we like?

text

[postictal]

i'm not even getting into the "everyone has amnesia except you" part.
really a good thing for the sanity, very healthful.

action;

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji's usually the one making food for others, so the promise of food for information gets him down to the kitchen without even responding by text. That and he hasn't seen Philip in awhile. Apparently he was gone and not noticing it makes Souji feel a little guilty (although he thinks that it would have been mutual, had he gone home and Philip had stayed).

He walks into the kitchen and pauses to catch the smell of the toffee. It only takes a second for him to approve.]

Welcome back.

[He stops nearby, one hand on his hip, to pick up one of those toffee squares. He doesn't bit into it quite yet.]

It was a lot of sleep deprivation this year.

action;

[radiopalkiller]

[ --Now there's a face he hasn't seen in a while, hellfire aside. Right away he puts The Rabbit Hole on his list of places to visit more often, and right away he cringes, knowing that he'll probably end up sticking to the bar, anyway. At least for now the meeting brings a smile to his face. ]

Been some time, huh? Heard about the sleep deprivation- and a few interesting dreams to go with it?

action;

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji nods, trying the toffee now. He smiles a little, approving.]

They were almost a little disturbing.

[Just the all-white was a little disturbing. It made him think of a hospital or an asylum or something - something clinical but not quite safe, either. The alternate selves was worse.]

It wouldn't have been so bad if it were just one or the other. Even if you went to sleep, you couldn't rest because you were there.

text

[eyething]

Pretty sure you couldn't just blink and miss that event. Couldn't even sleep through it. You were either in one world or another. There's just been a whole lot of sleep deprived people walking around, making poor decisions.

You got sent back to where you're from?

text

[radiopalkiller]

Call me old-fashioned, but if you go around making bad decisions, then you ought to do it well-rested and three sheets to the wind.

And if blinking and missing a few weeks was not an option, then I reckon I really did go back to my world for a bit. Not for the first time either, but| [ --he didn't think he still had anything to go back to at all. Actually, scratch that. Scratch. Delete. Burn. Don't think about it too much. Or at all. Ever. Just this: ] Not for the first time either. [ Period. ]

text

[eyething]

Don't you know the only way kids make bad decisions these days is if there's something to blame it on? Lack of sleep, lots of alcohol.

[damon tilts his head to the side as if he expects something else there in the text, but hell he gets not wanting to talk about shit. talking about shit is... difficult.] Wonderland has some fun timing like that. There's never any way to tell that it's going to send you back before it does, is there? Cause I got sent back not long ago myself and warning would be nice.

oops this is late, text

[normandysbest]

[Huh. So he's back, and messages aren't bouncing from his phone anymore. Interesting.]

Nice of you to give back.
What'd you make?
If any of it's got chocolate, I'm in.

text

[radiopalkiller]

[ Their last conversation could have ended worse, sure, but the room for improvement sours his mood. Only ignoring that particular message wouldn't do, would it? ]

Not sure how much I'm really giving in a place where you can get an assorted bakery from the closets, but it kills time well enough. Got chocolate, toffee, nut sprinkles. The whole package.

text

[normandysbest]

[She just wants to be sure he knows where they stand.

And where they stand is, she's got her eye on him.]

Makes sense.
I'll take some for some friends if you're offering though.
Got some kids who I know would appreciate fresh chocolate.